Preparing Military Leaders

In 1802, Congress created the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, to train Army officers for national defense. Congress later established additional service academies. To ensure broad representation and experience, each state and congressional district is allotted a number of entrants. Military service academies have produced many distinguished leaders, including West Point graduate Dwight D. Eisenhower, who became supreme allied commander in Europe during World War II and the 34th U.S. president.

Regulations relative to the admission of cadets into military academy by B.F. Butler, Secretary of War, February 15, 1837

Congress strove for political fairness when it established regulations for admission of cadets into U.S. military academies. By basing distribution on congressional districts, Congress allowed individuals from every state to achieve careers as officers in the U.S. armed forces.

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Letter from Dwight David Eisenhower to Senator Joseph L. Bristow, August 20, 1910

In August 1910, Dwight D. Eisenhower sought support from Kansas Senator Joseph L. Bristow to enter a military academy. Eisenhower, born October 14, 1890, was nearly twenty, but claimed to be a year younger. The Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, did not accept candidates over age eighteen. Eisenhower secured Bristow’s recommendation to the Army school at West Point.

Kansas State Historical Society

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With Senator Bristow’s backing, Dwight D. Eisenhower entered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1911 after passing the admissions exam. Eisenhower went on to become a five-star general, one of the greatest military commanders of the twentieth century, and president of the United States.

Records of the Adjutant General's Office, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.